Among the topics on the Council’s agenda was their longstanding issue with ticket collection – specifically, how often it doesn’t happen.

After the meeting I took the 6 to the 5th Ave Apple Store to check out the new iMacs (sexy), and continued up the 6 line to catch a Stamford train out of Harlem-125th.

The conductor did not collect my ticket on the ride to Stamford.

I was sharing a 3-seat with another passenger, and there was one punch tag on the seat, so, evidentally, the Grand Central passenger fares had been collected between there and Harlem.

Currently I am an only an occasional Metro-North rider, not a commuter, but the council is mostly if not fully monthly pass holders. As such, they are understandably offended when fares are not collected – it doesn’t save them any money with the monthly pass, but the lack of collected fares contribute to lower revenue for Metro-North projects, service repairs, and contributes to future fare hikes.

The problem has become so serious, the council reports, that some monthly pass holders have switched to buying 10-trips instead – insisting they can get through the month cheaper via passive fare avoidance.

When posed with the question, President Permut noted that due to labor costs, it was indeed often an ROI issue regarding the collection of intermediate fares (trips between two stations not including GCT). He noted that this category of ride had reached collection rates as low as 85% in the past.

Metro-North has uncharacteristically massive intermediate traffic for a commuter rail system. (Interesting fact: more people get off at Stamford Station every morning than get on to go to Manhattan).

Reps from Metro-North went on to say that ticket collection was regularly audited and that disciplinary action was common. Overall the reps themselves, mirroring the response from Connecticut DOT at last months meeting, seemed to feel that the collection rates were within acceptable limits or better based on their audit data.

The Council disagreed. To be truthful, I agree that it is extremely unlikely that Metro-North could get a full sense of this issue through occasional audits, and that the everyday riders themselves are the only ones who truly see the scope of the problem.

Even as an occasional rider who *only* rides to Grand Central, I have to say it has always surprised me how often my ticket has not been collected.

When asked what other systems do to combat this, Permut referred to unnamed European systems, whose approach is somewhat draconian. There, uniformed police officers regularly tour the cars and check receipts – if the rider doesn’t have a receipt, they are cited, and the penalty is severe.

Ugh – I hated to write this post, but I had to. I like the Metro-North conductors alot and I sympathize with them. They are the only Metro-North employees who are on the ground with the passengers as part of their daily ordeal. Although they are not responsible for any of the decrepit conditions on the New Haven Line, they are the ones who get blamed and yelled at for it every day.

I sympathize with them when they need to collect tickets from an overpacked train with no air conditioning in August, or when an intoxicated passenger refuses to pay their fare. The list goes on and on. I actually consider it ‘cool’ for a conductor to not collect fares on a train overstuffed with riders in suits and skirts standing for an hour on a train that’s 89 degrees AND smells like a porta-potty.

However, I see both sides of the issue, and agree that one cannot argue both against fare hikes and bad train conditions and appreciate fare avoidance – that math just doesn’t work.

Originally appeared on: StationStops - Metro-North Train Schedules and NYC Commuting Blog See the original post here: Conductor Fails to Collect Tickets on Train back from Metro-North Meeting About Conductors not Collecting Tickets

Yesterday evening (August 11th) my elderly mother and I were traveling from Grand Central Terminal to Redding, CT. We boarded the 6:42pm train out of GCT, planning to transfer at South Norwalk for the Danbury line.

The Assistant Conductor punched our tickets. He was a heavyset man with gray hair, probably between 45 and 55 years old.

When the train pulled in to South Norwalk, my mother and I got off the train and started walking down the platform. The Assistant Conductor of our train was standing at one of the open train-doors, and I asked him if the Danbury train would be coming on this track, or if we’d have to cross-over. He said, “No, get back on the train, you have to go to East Norwalk.”

“Really?” I said. (I’m from Redding, and I know I’ve always transferred at SoNo or Stamford.)

“Yes, yes, COME ON, you have to get back on the train.”

So my mother and I got back on the train.  In my experience commuting for 5 years, the conductor’s word trumps everything else – so I thought there must be track-work or some odd reason why we had to transfer at East Norwalk.

As the train pulled out of the station, again I asked the Assistant-Conductor, “Are you *sure* it’s East Norwalk?”

He pulled out his schedule, looked at it, and said, “Oh – no. It’s South Norwalk.”  Then he pulled out a white receipt and wrote on it, gave it to us, and said, “Get off at East Norwalk, cross over, take the next train back, and transfer at South Norwalk.”

“But will that get us back to SoNo in time to catch our 7:53 connecting train to Redding?” I asked.

“I dunno,” he shrugged.

“The next train to Redding after that isn’t for hours!” I said. (9:13pm, to be exact, now that I can look it up.)

“I don’t know if you can make your connection,” he said.
(Another passenger at this point said, “Even if I gave you a ride from East Norwalk, you wouldn’t make that train.”)
“That’s all I can do,” the Assistant Conductor said. “Sorry.”

So, to summarize: this Assistant Conductor not only put us back on the train in error, but he was prepared to send me with my elderly mother “to take the next train,” WITHOUT WARNING US that it would have meant sitting in a series of waiting-rooms for HOURS, getting back to SoNo on what would have been the next train (8:36pm) to sit and wait another 45 minutes for the Danbury train. Which would get us to Redding near 10pm and home after 10pm. (My mother, a senior citizen, does not drive at night.)

Let me say that it’s a damn good thing I knew that the next train to Redding wasn’t for hours, because otherwise I would have obediently followed this Assistant Conductor’s instructions to cross over and wait on the other platform. That certainly would have gotten us out of his hair, which was clearly all he cared about. However, knowing that it would be a LONG wait, I objected, and my mother asked if we could get a taxi at East Norwalk. “No,” said the Assistant Conductor.

When we got off at East Norwalk, a helpful fellow passenger directed us to a nearby bar where we were able to call for a taxicab to take us back to Redding. Allow me to reiterate that the Assistant Conductor was of absolutely no help. The conductor, who witnessed most of this, was also no help. I could not believe the sheer incompetence of the Assistant Conductor. A turnstile at Grand Central Terminal could have performed his job more admirably.

Our tickets to Redding were now worthless, unless we wanted to sit and wait for two hours as it got later and darker. I could not do that to my mother.

The taxicab fare from the East Norwalk train station to my home in Redding was $55.00 (including tip). I’ve written a complaint to Metro-North to be reimbursed for the $55, as I believe the incident is entirely the fault of their employee. Furthermore, I truly don’t understand how a clear-headed conductor could even make this sort of an error. I have traveled on trains all over Europe and have never encountered this extent of incompetence.

Ed. – I feel really bad for what happened, and the Asst. Conductor should not have been so assertive with his response, but you really shouldn’t double check your itinerary with the conductor as you are leaving the train – this leaves no time for him to review the schedule and give you a thoughtful response. The Metro-North schedule is quite an extensive beast.

Originally appeared on: StationStops - Metro-North Train Schedules and NYC Commuting Blog See the original post here: Asst. Conductor Sends Metro-North Riders Into Transfer Limbo

It is a great peek into a conductor’s daily life – I would gladly read a log like this daily.

Originally appeared on: StationStops - Metro-North Train Schedules and NYC Commuting Blog See the original post here: Bobby’s Conductor’s Log

It is ALWAYS cool, however, when the rider is a cute celebrity blond sitting along with a balloon.

(cue Barry White music)…

“Hi baby, my name’s Bobby.
I’m a conductor.
I can’t help but notice you are sitting in one of our uber-stinky restroom cars.
My that’s a pretty balloon…is it your birthday?
I should take your picture!
Oh, don’t worry, its not like that, you see, I have this picture of Gwen Stefani!
You want to be like Gwen, right?
Now just relax…”

Find out who the celebrity was, and what happened next, on Derailed…